Vietnam Has Issues With America

Published 7:00 pm, Wednesday, January 9, 2002

An official Vietnamese newspaper accused the United States on Thursday of leading a new war against Vietnam by attempting to destabilize the country's communist government.

The editorial in the Cong An Nhan Dan (People's Police) newspaper revealed the lingering distrust Vietnam's ruling Communist Party has for its former battlefield foe, despite warming ties between the two nations.

"These visible and invisible attacks are wicked," said the newspaper, published by the Ministry of Public Security. "They are diverse in form: it is war through psychology, ideology and culture."

It said efforts by "imperialists" led by the United States to reform communism through "peaceful evolution" are "in essence acts of sabotage against communist countries, including Vietnam."

"Peaceful evolution" is a term used by Vietnam to refer to the overthrow of communist governments through nonviolent means.

It blamed corruption and declining morals within the Communist Party on the peaceful evolution campaign, saying "Western lifestyles and wrongful reactionary attitudes have been spread to Vietnam verbally or through documents and videotapes."

The editorial also accused "hostile forces" of abusing religious and ethnic disputes within Vietnam to "sow divisions among the Communist Party, the government and ethnic minority groups and religious people."

Human rights groups accuse Vietnam of suppressing dissent and limiting religious freedom. In February, thousands of minorities protested over losses of land and restrictions on religious activity.

Vietnam alleged that anti-communist exile groups based in the United States instigated ethnic unrest in the country's Central Highlands.

Asked whether the Foreign Ministry agreed with the newspaper's view, ministry spokeswoman Phan Thuy Thanh said Vietnam would "strongly condemn" any support given by the U.S. government to groups attempting to overthrow its government _ but did not say whether she believed Washington was giving such support.

Relations between Vietnam and the United States have gradually warmed since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, with establishment of diplomatic ties in 1995 and the normalization of trade ties in December.

Members of Vietnam's National Assembly warned, however, that the United States could use trade issues to pressure Vietnam on human rights.